Why Googlers are having a merry Xmas, and other happy holiday stories

Christmas Eve is typically a slow news day, but given the inexhaustible interest in all things Google, nary a 24-hour period can pass without a series of stories about the Internet giant.

The New York Times tells us why Googlers are likely having a merrier Christmas than most of us, noting that a well-timed stock option exchange and run up in share price has netted “$117,000 on average for each of Google’s roughly 20,000 employees.”

The Telegraph weighs in on the holiday postcard doodle accompanying the Mountain View search company’s logo today, “a small boat on a mountain lake and a festive building on the shoreline.”

And EWeek and others tell us how the company is helping to track Santa’s route via Google Earth, Google Maps and YouTube, picking up a tradition started by NORAD in 1955.